Intelligence & Surveillance
Just Security’s expert authors provide legal and policy analysis of intelligence and surveillance activities, focusing on their impact on national security and on civil liberties and privacy rights, and their oversight by Congress and the courts.
1,846 Articles

Norms Watch: Democracy, the Trump Administration, and Reactions to It (October 2017)
Sign up here to receive Norms Watch in your inbox once a month. INTRODUCTORY NOTE This edition of Norms Watch will examine the ten greatest violations of democratic norms in the…

Episode 44 of the National Security Law Podcast: Interrogation, Prosecution, and Detention Issues in the Wake of the NYC Attack
We are back, one day after dropping episode 43, with an emergency podcast discussion the legal consequences of the horrific attack that occurred in New York City yesterday. The…

Episode 43 of the National Security Law Podcast: Unseal this Podcast!
It’s been a busy week in national security law! In Episode 43, Professor Bobby Chesney and I take on: Mueller-Time: Indictments against Manafort and Gates, and an even-more important…

Cyber, Sovereignty, and North Korea–And the Risk of Inaction
Americans, and people throughout the world, are becoming increasingly aware that there are significant vulnerabilities in the Internet, and that there are malicious actors who…

Major Takeaways from the Papadopoulos Bombshell
For months, it was well known that Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman (who has longstanding ties to the Trump world), was in serious legal trouble.…

What Manafort’s Indictment May Tell Us About Russian Election Meddling
Make no mistake. Paul Manafort’s arrest is very likely directly tied to Russian intelligence operations. Even a quick look at his indictment shows this. In Ukraine, Manafort…

A Timeline of Paul Manafort’s Relationship with the Trump World
Now that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has indicted Paul Manafort, the former chairman of President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, the White House has already begun to…

Two Former Federal Prosecutors Analyze Manafort Indictment: Just Security’s Mariotti and Whiting
On Monday, special counsel Robert Mueller indicted former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates, Jr. (word-searchable full text). The indictment involves…
Recap of Recent Pieces on Just Security (Oct. 21-27)
Russia Investigation and Facebook Ryan Goodman, Top Experts: Can Facebook Legally Disclose Russian Ads–What does the Stored Communications Act say? Artin Afkhami, Former Federal…

Top Experts: Can Facebook Legally Disclose Russian Ads–What Does the Stored Communications Act say?
I asked several of the most highly respected legal experts for their views on an issue yet to receive significant attention in the news: whether and to what extent, if any, a federal…

Happy PATRIOT Act Day!
On this day, 16 years ago, President George W. Bush signed into law the most sweeping, publicly acknowledged domestic surveillance authority in American history. Enacted six weeks…

Treasury’s Turf War Over Domestic Spying
BuzzFeed News recently reported serious allegations that the Treasury Department’s Office of Intelligence Affairs (OIA) is illegally accessing and analyzing the financial records…